


coming home

by ghostscribe



Series: 9,000 meters above sea level [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Crying, M/M, Rated T for language mostly, just a lot of bad vibes in this one i swear i'll throw the comfort in here eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 12:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15195137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostscribe/pseuds/ghostscribe
Summary: Green catches wind of Red's hideaway, and now Red is coming home.Green hopes Red is coming home.





	coming home

Green is so overwhelmed he feels like he's going to throw up.

There's this kid who went up Mount Silver to try and do some research or training or something, some girl from New Bark - Crystal, that's her name. She's been making her rounds up the mountain every so often. Green has heard about her from Professor Oak, something about her being one of Oak's colleague's apprentices or something. She's apparently a skilled enough trainer to be let up the mountain and, in the one battle Green had with her, she definitely is. She barely lost to him, and he's the second strongest trainer in the region - maybe even in the world. She has this younger group of kids she watches over sometimes, and somehow one of them caught wind of her researching Sneasel on the mountain, and somehow got up there, played around, had a battle with someone -

"Was his name Red?"

The boy - Ethan is his name - blinks at Green. "I dunno. He didn't say anything to me. We just battled, he helped me heal my Pokémon, then I came back down."

"I thought it might have been Red," Crystal explains, "because you said he doesn't like to talk much to anyone, right?"

Green feels a pang in his chest. "Sure, but lots of people don't talk. Don't get my hopes up if you're gonna have some weak argument."

"What did you say he looked like, Ethan?" The younger boy shrugs a bit.

"I dunno, he just looked like a teen. He had this red and white jacket, and a red and white hat with like... like a leaf or something, kinda like that old Earth Badge they used to use in Viridian City. I think his hair was black, but like, it was snowing so much I couldn't really see that well, anyway."

That old Earth Badge is the detail that hits him the hardest, the one Red found in the forest one time and pinned to his hat. Green almost doesn't know if he wants to believe it. He doesn't want to get his hopes up. Red has been missing for two years, and at this point, everyone has decided that he's probably just dead. Green wouldn't be surprised; devastated and miserable, absolutely, yes, but he wouldn't be surprised. Red doesn't fend for himself very well at sea level, let alone at the summit of Mount-fucking-Silver.

"What... What Pokémon did he have?" Green ventures to ask.

"Uh... Espeon, Snorlax, Blastoise, Charizard, Venusaur, and Pikachu." Espeon. That evolves from Eevee, right? That's the only oddball and that's also the only plausible explanation. "He kept switching them in and out and, like, whistling to them instead of actually telling them what to do. It was weird, because like - Green, where are you going?"

"Gonna find him," Green calls back, already pulling his winter jacket on, clipping his pokéballs onto his belt and slamming the door behind him.

It's the whistling bit that catches Green's attention this time, a detail Ethan couldn't have possibly known, because not even one report ever mentioned that. Red lost their first two Pokémon battles because he didn't have the voice to command his Pokémon. Red has been selectively mute (that's what the doctors said, at least) for the better part of his life, only really speaking to Green and his mom in more private settings. Sometimes, Red can whisper to one of them in public, but mostly, he stays silent, gesturing vaguely or just keeping out of everyone's hair. Green isn't sure where or when Red decided to command his Pokémon through whistles, but it ended up working out in his favor; it's hard to anticipate your foes next move when you don't understand the commands, and now Red can stay as quiet as he needs.

He practically runs into the front door of Red's house. His mom opens it upon hearing some commotion.

"Green? Where are you hurrying off - "

"Ethan said he found Red on Mount Silver," Green frantically explains, and his mom covers her mouth, already overwhelmed with emotion. "I'm gonna go find him and make sure he's safe."

She nods adamantly, her voice trembling. "Please. Please make sure he's okay."

"I will!"

Green takes off flying on his own Charizard, and they're making a beeline toward the mountain. Yes, Green is going to make sure Red is okay, and he's going to bring him home. It's been two years, two years without Red's smile and laughter, two years without Red chasing Pikachu around the neighborhood and hopping into the water with Blastoise. It's been two years since they had a proper conversation, a game of tag, a late night pancake-making excursion that left Daisy shouting at them to clean up the kitchen, _please, I did_ _not_ _make this mess!_ It's been two years since Red confided in Green that he wanted to run away, since Red shouted about bullying and anxiety and misery, it's been two years since they walked through Viridian Forest on a sunny day to get out and about, it's been two years since Green has hugged Red, it's been two years, two years, two years -

It's been too long.

 _"Charrr!"_ His Charizard's roar bellows over the wind. Green rubs his eyes.

"I'm fine. We're gonna find him, and we're gonna bring him home."

This was the idea.

* * *

 

Green spends about five hours scouring the mountainside, to no avail. Where could Red be hiding? This is a mountain, on one hand, vast and sprawling, but this is also _just_ a mountain, a hunk of rock with cliff edges and boundaries. Red has to be up here somewhere, he has to be, hell _someone_ has to be up here but Green hasn't managed to encounter anyone so far. The gales of snow must be deterring anyone from making their way up here, he supposes. That makes enough sense, right? Maybe Red is hiding out in one of the deeper caverns. Green has only been checking the larger ones so far, but he has yet to dig even deeper into the network of earth.

It's on his fifth lap around the summit that Green notices a small crevice nestled away between two larger hunks of earth. That's worth checking out.

Green has to slip between a few fallen boulders to get deeper into the cave, but once he enters, the sight is something beautiful to behold. Stalactites cling desperately to the ceiling, the pool of water in front of him is a pure, crystal blue, the stone below his feet oddly smooth and almost shimmering. He'd take another moment to marvel at the cave's beauty if he weren't on a mission.

The first alcove he checks ends three feet into the rock. No one's home.

The second one is huge but too low to even stand up in. Nobody here.

The third is across the lake, smaller and unusually square. Empty.

The fourth one is atop a plateau facing the lake.

There's Red.

Red is sleeping on his Snorlax, shivering slightly, snuggling as close to her warmth as he can. The only other things in the room are a raised hunk of rock in the middle, a box of potions, and Red's backpack sitting off to the side. This... is this how Red has been living for the past two years? Has he been traveling around, and he just happened to be here today? Green can't say for sure, but he doesn't care what the answer is, frankly. He only cares that he found him.

"Red!"

Red screams - tries to scream, rather, but he makes more of a croak with a high pitched squeak. He's practically hyperventilating until he looks over and sees Green.

They watch each other silently, waiting for someone to make some move. Green is strong. He can do this. He can handle this.

He can't handle this.

Green sobs and throws himself on top of Red, hugging him tightly, because he's not even sure if there's anything he can say right now. Red is here, he's safe, and now just needs to come home.

"I thought you were dead," Green murmurs. Red doesn't answer, nor even move. "Don't scare us like that again. Your mom was wondering where you went and she thought you died. So did I. So did _everyone._ Th-The only reason I knew you weren't dead is because one of the trainers you battled told me you were up here. Gramps kept telling me you were a lost cause, a-and I didn't want you to be, and I'm so glad you're not - "

"Green."

Red's voice sounds awfully strained, raspy and breathy. Green pulls away.

Somehow, Red looks different. He doesn't just look older (it has been two years), but there's something else in his eyes now, some kind of maturity that a fourteen year old shouldn't have, some look he definitely didn't have when he was twelve and decided to hide forever.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, his voice cutting in and out. Green is almost offended at the question.

"What am I - what do you _think_ I'm doing here?!" Red flinches away. "I'm here to bring you home!"

"...no."

"No?"

"No."

"...what do you mean, _no?"_ It's taking every ounce of willpower Green has not to scream right now.

"I don't wanna come down."

"Why not? Don't you miss us?"

Pause. "I'm scared."

"Scared?" No answer. "Scared of _what,_ Red? We're scared too, you know. It's not safe to just run off like that."

It takes Red a full minute to find an answer. "Scared. Rocket. Champion. C-Cinnabar. I'm..."

The anger in his heart is dwindling. He's... Green has never known Red to be scared of anything. He wasn't scared when he took on his first gym, he wasn't scared when he got lost in Mount Moon, he wasn't scared when he infiltrated Team Rocket's hideouts, he wasn't scared when he went to battle the Elite Four, no, no, Red isn't a coward.

Why is he scared?

"How are you scared?" Yes, how, why, _how_ is Red scared? "You're never scared of anything!"

Red's gaze suddenly turns cold and oh wow, that's... weird. That doesn't look right.

"...Red?"

"I'm too scared to speak to anyone but you and my mom. Try and tell me I'm never scared."

"Wait, _that's_ why you only talk to us?" Silence. "What are you scared of?"

"Everything!" Red shrieks, and the onslaught of words that follow are only half audible. "I'm scared of saying something that could hurt someone, I'm scared of Team Rocket trying to attack me for ruining their plans, I'm scared of everyone looking at me just because I won the Indigo League, I'm scared of having to grow up and be responsible for everything by myself, I'm scared of the thing I found on Cinnabar and everything it can do and every way it can hurt you and every way I can hurt you and..."

Red's lips are still moving, but no more sound is coming out. Occasional crackles of a voice and choked sobs are the only sound he can make. Is he literally losing his voice?

"You... You don't have to be scared, Red. I'm here for you," Green offers quietly, so quietly, but Red's mouths out the words that break Green.

_No you're not._

"Yes I am!" Green shouts. "I flew up here and ran around for five hours trying to find you up here, Red! I am _right_ here, and I'm not gonna let you stay up here all alone!"

"What are you gonna do, move in?"

"No. I'm bringing you home."

"I don't wanna go home!" His cry is so quiet it doesn't even echo.

"Too bad! You're comin' home because everyone is worried sick about you!"

"I like it up here."

Wait, is he - "Are you living up here?" Red only nods. "Red, what the hell?! You'll die up here! It's way below freezing!"

"I don't care. It's safe here."

"No it's not! I just told you it's so cold you can - "

"It's safe from Team Rocket."

"I'm not - "

"It's safe from the cameras."

"I'm not..."

"It's safe from the monster."

"I'm..."

"It's safe from you."

Ow. _Ow,_ what the hell, what is that supposed to mean?

"I'm... Red, I'm not here to hurt you..."

Red glares at him, an icy stare that pierces way harder than the cold outside. "You always did."

"Not always..."

Red hesitates, clenching his fists. "Just yell at me and get it over with."

"I don't wanna - "

"I thought you didn't even wanna be my friend anymore."

"You said that to me!"

"Because you kept abandoning me!"

"Who's abandoning who now, Red?! Look, you can't - "

"Get out."

Pause. "What?"

"Get. Out."

He's about to explode. "Sure. Come with me."

"I'm not coming with you."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" That makes Red jump, and the ice in his eyes melts. "You're seriously going to stay up here? How much longer do you have to give us all hell before you finally come back down? Do you even care about anyone anymore? Do you just hate me, or what?!"

"No, I - "

"If you cared about anyone at all, you'd come back down! You'd at least write us a letter or something! We've been down here thinking about all the horrible, terrible ways you could be _dead,_ you know! Do you even know what kind of a nightmare that is? You've never experienced any kind of death at all! You don't know how much it hurts!"

"Green - "

"I lost our family Rhydon when I was three, I lost my parents when I was six, I lost my Raticate when I was ten," and now his voice is getting weak, "I don't know how much longer Gramps has until he dies, and if you're gonna stay up here, you're as good as dead too! I _miss_ you, Red!"

Silence.

"It has been too fucking long! Do you know how worried I am about you?!"

Red grips the bottom of his jacket. No answer. Green sighs, defeated.

"Fine. Fuck you too. I'm going back down and your mom and I are gonna mourn your death, 'cause it looks like you're never coming home."

Green turns to walk away, and he actually gets almost back into the snow before he hears Red's _tap tap tap_ coming closer to him, that very particular gait. Green stops in his tracks, but he refuses to turn around. Red is either coming with him or not. He's not humoring him anymore. This is stupid and he's heartbroken, this was a mistake and he just wants to go home.

He wants Red to come home. That's not happening today.

"Can I write you a letter?"

Green huffs. "You don't have to ask me."

"...are you going home?"

"Yes. Are you coming?"

"No."

Green restrains the urge to punch something, either Red or the rocks or himself - himself, probably. He couldn't possibly hurt Red no matter how furious he is. It's his fault, anyway. He knew Red was running away. He should have just found one of the adults to stop him instead of trying to handle it himself.

"Green?"

Green risks turning to look at Red. He's crying. He hates seeing Red this way.

"What?" He tries to sound mad. He just sound tired. He's sick of crying.

"Can... Can you visit me?" That's just going to enable Red, let him think it's okay to be up here, to abandon everyone. "Please?"

"Okay."

"Y-You'll be back soon, right?"

"Yeah."

Green walks away. What else can he do? Red isn't coming home.

Red isn't coming home and that breaks Green's heart into sharper shards than he ever imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> will i ever learn to write anything but angst? yes maybe  
> if you end up feeling impatient for some fluff, my slowburn ReuNite is going to have the technical end to Red's "hiding on a mountain"-ing pretty soon. i'll probably cross-post just that chapter as its own series post here, since it's part of a planned 50 chapters worth of N/Touya and Green/Red ouo;  
> i'll still add more of the in-between of the years Red is spending up on Mount Silver though ofc! i love my mountain hermit son with all my heart and i will never stop writing for him hjkfdfgfsh


End file.
